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Episode 1026 (18th November 1970)
Plot Minnie is upset that Handel has had to return to Whaley Bridge to look after a sick cousin. Billy tells Irma how he's kidding on that she is pregnant. Annie's taken to her bed, supposedly ill, but invites Irma and Stan to tea to sort things out. Elsie leaves for work, telling Alan that she wants things sorted out once and for all with Mark when she returns home. Mark tries to apologise to Alan and asks for another chance. Alan tells Mark that there's no way he could ever return to his mother and makes him leave. Betty tells Billy that he's going too far in winding up his mother. Val asks Ray to fix a dripping tap. Joe Donelli returns to the area after being demobbed from the US army. He asks Irma if she knows of any digs and she sends him Minnie's way. Ena disapproves, thinking Minnie is man-mad. Irma tells Stan that Annie has summoned him. Mark packs and walks out without a word to Elsie. Ray brings round some fish and chips for Val, only to find Ena and Minnie having tea with her. Ena is suspicious of his intentions. Elsie is delighted to see Joe and introduces him to Alan. Stan thinks Annie sees him as a successor to Jack behind the bar. Irma grows alarmed that they're going too far. Ena gives Val unwelcome warnings about Ray. Billy tells Irma that he's convinced his mother that she was jumping to conclusions, but she's still refusing to get out of bed. Stan dresses up for tea and Irma has to tell him that it's cancelled. Ray plays with the twins. Val asks him if he's heard any gossip about the two of them. A disappointed Stan gets drunk. Ena asks Emily to keep Val company, telling her of her suspicions of Ray. Elsie makes fun of Ray's interest in Val. Joe invites Irma out for a meal in Manchester. Emily calls on Val as instructed. She tells her to leave; if she wants Ray around, he shall be around. Cast Regular cast *Irma Barlow - Sandra Gough *Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant *Ena Sharples - Violet Carson *Billy Walker - Kenneth Farrington *Alan Howard - Alan Browning *Elsie Howard - Patricia Phoenix (Credited as "Elsie Tanner") *Betty Turpin - Betty Driver *Valerie Barlow - Anne Reid *Ray Langton - Neville Buswell *Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens *Maggie Clegg - Irene Sutcliffe *Emily Nugent - Eileen Derbyshire *Peter Barlow - Christopher Dormer *Susan Barlow - Wendy Jane Walker Guest cast *Joe Donelli - Shane Rimmer *Mark Howard - Nicholas Jones Places *Rovers Return Inn - Public/Snug, back room, hallway and kitchen *11 Coronation Street - Back room/kitchen and hallway *14 Coronation Street - Living room, kitchen and hallway *Corner Shop Notes *This episode, although the standard half-hour in length, was in reality the scripts for two episodes (P694/26 and P694/27) pared down into one and with two credited writers. This was done as Doris Speed was ill and her absence left a large hole in the plot for the two episodes which couldn't be filled by last-minute rewrites. Annie's summons to Stan and Irma and Billy's confession that Irma isn't pregnant were all handled off-camera and relayed to the audience by conversations between other characters. Annie was also stated to be ill in bed in the episode. *The ITV Colour Strike started on 13th November, the day that this episode was recorded, and therefore for the first time since Episode 923 (29th October 1969) Coronation Street was both made and transmitted in black and white and would continue to appear in this format until Episode 1052 (15th February 1971) when the programme returned to colour. *Elsie Howard speaks of the time that Ray Langton showed more than a passing interest in her, referencing the events of Episode 794 (24th July 1968). *''TV Times'' synopsis: A departure, an arrival…and an "expected" arrival. *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 7,850,000 homes (5th place). Episode 1026